This invention relates to low-fat and sugar-free frozen ice desserts which are spoonable at temperatures in excess of 4.degree. F. The frozen dessert products of the invention have low caloric content because the sugar normally present in their non-dietetic counterparts has been replaced by a sufficient amount of a synthetic sweetener such as aspartame (L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester). Typical of frozen low-fat water-based ice products contemplated in this invention are sorbets and sherbets and most particularly, water ices. The frozen ice products of the invention are spoonable at temperatures in excess of 4.degree. F. The term "spoonable" herein means that the product is spoonable with a plastic spoon.
Home freezers typically have low temperatures of about 10.degree. F. to -5.degree. F. Thus, it may be necessary, when removing from a home freezer a frozen food product incorporating the features of the present invention, to allow it to warm to 4.degree. F. before it is spoonable. The inventive product is to be distinguished from those quiescently frozen novelties, frequently packaged on a stick which are not intended to be eaten with a spoon, are not considered spoonable within the definition of this invention.
There are a number of problems which are encountered when preparing low-fat and low-calorie frozen spoonable products. U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,441 to Wolkstein alludes to some of these problems and particularly the difficulty in replacing bulk when sugar is substituted with aspartame which is about 200 times sweeter than sugar. Because the volume of aspartame used in the formula is much less than the corresponding volume of sugar, the product has inferior structure and mouthfeel. Wolkstein uses, in addition to a synthetic sweetener such as aspartame, sucrose polyester as artificial fat substitutes. Only example 13 of the Wolkstein patents discusses water ice product which does not include milk or milk fat ingredients.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,656 to Huber et al. discloses a soft frozen water ice which is smooth textured and is of the type which may be dispensed similar to frozen yogurt or soft-serve ice cream and includes natural sugars along with thickening agents, flavoring agents, bulking agents and the like. The Huber et al. patent discloses a water ice product which has a sweetening agent such as sucrose or fructose or corn syrup solids in the range of between about 20 and 24% by weight of the product. There is no disclosure in the Huber et al. patent of how to accommodate the formula there disclosed if all of the actual sugars which make up 20-24 weight percent of the product were to be substituted with the synthetic sweeteners also disclosed therein.
Because of increased attention given to controlling caloric intake in the diet, dietetic or low-calorie frozen desserts with synthetic sweeteners are a desirable product and in addition, because of the increased awareness of the public to the possible deleterious effects of fat in foods, a low-fat as well as a low-calorie product is of heightened interest.